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Monday, October 31, 2011

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — She came into the world at two minutes before midnight, a tiny, wrinkled girl born into a struggling Manila family. On Monday, she became a symbol of the world'spopulation reaching 7 billion people and all the worries that entails for the planet's future.

Danica May Camacho, born in a crowded public hospital, was welcomed with a chocolate cake marked "7B Philippines" and a gift certificate for free shoes. There were bursts of photographers' flashes, and speeches by local officials.

The celebrations, though, reflected symbolism more than demography.

Amid the millions of births and deaths around the world each day, it is impossible to pinpoint the arrival of the globe's 7 billionth occupant. But the U.N. chose Monday to mark the day with a string of festivities worldwide, and a series of symbolic 7-billionth babies being born.

Danica was the first, arriving at Manila's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital at two minutes before midnight Sunday — but doctors say that was close enough to count for a Monday birthday.

"She looks so lovely," the mother, Camille Galura, whispered as she cradled the 2.5-kilo (5.5-pound) baby, who was born about a month premature.

The baby was the second for Galura and her partner, Florante Camacho, a driver who supports the family on a tiny salary driving a 'jeepney,' ubiquitous four-wheel drive vehicles used by many poor and working-class Filipinos.

Dr. Eric Tayag of the Philippines' Department of Health said later that the birth came with a warning.

"Seven billion is a number we should think about deeply," he said.

"We should really focus on the question of whether there will be food, clean water, shelter, education and a decent life for every child," he said. "If the answer is 'no,' it would be better for people to look at easing this population explosion."

In the Philippines, much of the population question revolves around birth control. The government backs a program that includes artificial birth control. The powerful Roman Catholic church, though, vehemently opposes contraception.

Camacho, a Catholic like her husband, said she was aware of the church's position but had decided to begin using a birth control device.

"The number of homeless children I see on the streets keeps multiplying," Camacho said. "When I see them, I'm bothered because I eat and maybe they don't."

Demographers say it took until 1804 for the world to reach its first billion people, and a century more until it hit 2 billion in 1927. The twentieth century, though, saw things begin to cascade: 3 billion in 1959; 4 billion in 1974; 5 billion in 1987; 6 billion in 1998.

The U.N. estimates the world's population will reach 8 billion by 2025 and 10 billion by 2083. But the numbers could vary widely, depending on everything from life expectancy to access to birth control to infant mortality rates.

In Uttar Pradesh, India — the most populous state in the world's second-most populous country — officials said Monday they would be appointing seven girls born Monday to symbolize the 7 billion.

India, which struggles with a deeply held preference for sons and a skewed sex ratio because of millions of aborted female fetuses, is using the day to highlight that issue.

"It would be a fitting moment if the 7 billionth baby is a girl born in rural India," said Dr Madhu Gupta, an Uttar Pradesh gynecologist. "It would help in bringing the global focus back on girls, who are subject to inequality and bias."

According to U.S. government estimates, India has 893 girls for every 1,000 boys at birth, compared with 955 girls per 1,000 boys in the United States.

On Monday, the chosen Indian babies were being born at the government-run Community Health Center in the town of Mall, on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh capital of Lucknow.

Six babies were born from midnight to 8 a.m. Monday. Four were boys.

Meanwhile China, which at 1.34 billion people is the world's most populous nation, said it would stand by its one-child policy, a set of restrictions launched three decades ago limiting most urban families to one child and most rural families to two.

"Overpopulation remains one of the major challenges to social and economic development," Li Bin, director of the State Population and Family Planning Commission, told the official Xinhua News Agency. He said the population of China would hit 1.45 billion in 2020.

While the Beijing government says its strict family planning policy has helped propel the country's rapidly growing economy, it has also brought many problems. Soon, demographers say, there won't be enough young Chinese to support its enormous elderly population. China, like India, also has a highly skewed sex ratio, with aid groups saying sex-selective abortions have resulted in an estimated 43 million fewer girls than there should be, given the overall population.

India, with 1.2 billion people, is expected to overtake China around 2030 when the Indian population reaches an estimated 1.6 billion.

Unless you're a Powerball winner, or you've inherited a large sum of money, chances are you have to wake up every day, go to work and make a living.

For most people, a job is just a job, little more than a way to pay the bills. But what if work were more like play? What if, instead of living for the weekend, you lived for Monday morning? There are people who feel that way; you just have to find them. We did. For instance, rock climber Steph Davis climbs up the north face of Castleton Tower in Castle Valley, Utah. Yeah, she gets paid to do that.

Here are 10 of the coolest jobs in the world, and the people who do them.

Stunt Woman

Alisa Hensley

Courtesy of Alisa Hensley

Some people fall into their careers, but Alisa Hensley falls, crashes, dives, rides, kicks and fights as part of her job. She is an established stunt woman with a long career in Hollywood working on a range of film and television shows, doubling for well-known actresses including Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Yvonne Strahovski on the NBC series "Chuck."

Hensley started her career with a non-paying TV show gig, which eventually led her to Stunt Coordinator Joni Avery, who had no hesitation in hiring her for her first paying job on Pamela Anderson's TV series "V.I.P."

Hensley is one of about 500 women in this field. She can do martial arts, ride motorcycles, fence, shoot firearms, rock climb, rappel, swim and many different forms of falling.

"In the middle of a day, when I'm just sweating and beating up guys, it's like I can't believe people pay me to do this!" Hensley said.

Photographer, Victoria's Secret

Russell James

CNBC

Taking pictures of lingerie models, working barefoot and having your work showcased in every Victoria's Secret store in the world for everyone to see certainly seems like a dream job, but for Russell James it's reality.

This popular photographer for Victoria's Secret loves what he does, but it's not as easy as it seems. His photo shoots can cost upwards of $20,000 a day, meaning he's got to keep 25 other people on the payroll plus the supermodels he works with operating smoothly and efficiently.

The photographer's job is to "make the girl feel sexy and beautiful without being weird," said model Candice Swanepoel. "[I feel] just safe with Russell."

James' photography career took off in 1997 when he took a picture of Tyra Banks that ended up on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. That's where Ed Razek, the creative director of Victoria's Secret, first took notice of him.

Candy Store Owner

Dylan Lauren, CEO, Dylan's Candy Bar

Courtesy of Dylan's Candy Bar

The story goes that when Ralph Lauren asked his daughter Dylan, then a teenager, if he could name a new fragrance after her, she responded by saying she wanted to save her name for something she created. Something of her own.

She did just that in 2001 when she opened the Dylan's Candy Bar location in New York, inspired by "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." After graduating from Duke University with a major in Art History, Lauren traveled the globe in search of the world's most exciting confectionery creations.

"I always wanted to do something big," Lauren said. "I wanted to open the world's biggest candy store and make it look like Disney World with candy."

Today, there are Dylan's Candy Bar locations in New York City (a whopping 15,000-square-feet of candy bliss), East Hampton and Roosevelt Field in New York; Houston; Orlando and, coming in 2012, stores in Miami and Los Angeles. The stores employ 206 people and sales for 2011 are expected to hit $25 million.

These candy emporiums offer not just candies from around the world but fashion items, accessories and even housewares. All with a sweet candy theme, of course.

Greg Marshall has dedicated the last 25 years to studying, exploring, and documenting life in the oceans. He's won two Emmy awards for his cinematography and sound work on National Geographic specials, but perhaps his biggest contribution to the scientific world is the National Geographic Crittercam.

In 1986, while diving in the reefs off Belize, Greg encountered a shark and was struck by the sight of a remora fish clinging to the shark's side. Imagining the unique perspective the remora must have when hitchhiking with its host, Greg conceived a remote camera that would mimic the remora's behavior.

Marshall thought that if the camera were small and lightweight it could attach like a remora to a host and record the behavior of sea creatures in situations where a handheld camera could never go. Recognizing the scientific potential of such a tool he began developing a camera tool that could record images, sound and data from an animal's perspective.

"The first wild animal I worked with was an alligator... but I lost my one and only unit on the very first deployment," Marshall said. "The first successful wild deployment was with a Tiger shark at Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and it was incredibly exciting to finally see what a wild, free-ranging animal does in its natural habitat over time and spatial scales that we could never otherwise experience."

In 2003 Greg and his team deployed the first land-based Crittercam on wild lions in Kenya, capturing remarkable new images and ushering in a new era of behavioral science.

Beer Brewer

Jennifer Glanville, Brewery Manager, Boston Beer Co.

Courtesy The Boston Beer Co.

While some people's work might drive them to drink in the morning, it's actually part of Jennifer Glanville's job. There's a tasting every day at 10:30 a.m., and unlike in the wine world where professional tasters spit, Glanville and her brewing compatriots swallow. It's important in experiencing the true finish of the beer, she explained.

"My bad day at work is probably somebody else's best day," Glanville said.

Of course, there's a lot more to it than just tasting beers. A lot of work and passion goes into brewing craft beers for The Boston Beer Company, the maker of the Samuel Adams line of beers. It's Glanville's job not only to ensure the quality of the beer being made, but to come up with new flavors and new ideas that take traditional styles and turn them on their head.

One of her most recent brews is the Oyster Stout, literally made with oysters from Wellfleet, Mass., near the tip of Cape Cod. It was an idea near and dear to Glanville, who spent her summers on the Cape as a kid and now owns a home there overlooking the oyster flats. She recently debuted the brew at the Wellfleet Oyster Fest. It was a hit, but there's no word yet on when or if it will be widely distributed.

Meanwhile, she's still hard at work perfecting what might be her favorite brew yet: Sahti, a Finnish-style beer flavored with juniper. It's one of the oldest, continuously brewed styles of beer in the world, Glanville explained. Like the rest of her brews, it's full of her passion.

"It's a match made in heaven, I guess, because I've been here 10 years," Glanville said. " It's hard to imagine what else now would fulfill me."

LEGO Sculptor

Nathan Sawaya, Brick Artist

Courtesy of Nathan Sawaya

Nathan Sawaya was a successful corporate lawyer, but he dreamed of LEGOs. Sculpting with LEGOs, to be exact. So in 2004, he told his boss he was quitting and gave up his six-figure salary to start playing with the plastic blocks full-time.

"I remember walking into his office, 42nd floor, MetLife Building, and just telling him, you know, I'm going to go start a new career playing with LEGO, and I'm leaving the practice," he said. There were some lean times, but when the LEGO company noticed his work, things took off for Sawaya.

Today, he is a "LEGO certified professional" whose work can be seen around the world in museums and fine art galleries. His work was even featured in the annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog, offering customers customized, life-size sculptures of themselves or their loved ones.

Sawaya's most recent work of art is a gift donated to The New York Public Library: Replicas of the library's famous marble lions, Patience and Fortitude. The half-scale sculptures took more than 60,000 legos and have an estimated value of about $30,000.

Music Teacher

Victoria Miller, Detroit Public Schools

CNBC

Detroit is a difficult place to grow up, and working there isn't easy either. But for Victoria Miller it's a calling. She has worked as a music teacher in the Detroit Public School System for nearly 40 years, teaching kids not just how to play, but how to be leaders.

"Times are so hard, and children need a place to be," Miller said. "They need things to do to keep them out of trouble. And so, I'm there for them. They need to know there's somebody they can count on."

She sees it as her personal duty to give these kids a chance. She tries to keep them out of trouble, focused on their futures and doing the best they can. For these students, spending time in band practice means less time in the dangerous Detroit streets. For some, it's been a life saver.

One of her students was at band practice on the day his best friend was murdered. To this day, he believes Miller saved his life.

This duo's idea of a dream come true? Searching all over the world to find the coolest and most powerful cars around. More than 300 members pay a $15,000 annual membership fee to drive the amazing collection of cars either on their own or as part of events such as skeet shooting, road rallies and visits to sports parks.

"We drive all the greatest cars. We get to buy what we like. We get to live our dream." said Princhinello about his dream job.

Princhinello and Moseley are currently planning to open clubs in Miami and Los Angeles. It's not all glamour and speed, though. The duo must also take care of the everyday necessities such as paying insurance policies costing $20,000 a year, dealing with accidents, overhead, and the dreaded Motor Vehicles department.

At right, Princhinello and Moseley driving some of their cool car finds.

Surfboard Designer/Builder

Ryan Harris, Co-Owner, Eco Boardworks

CNBC

Ryan Harris spends his days at the beach building the world's first ecologically friendly surfboards. Of course, he also tests the products.

"I get dirty like a 5-year-old every single day, covered in dust, covered in resin and then get to clean up and go home and then do it all over again. I love it. Wouldn't trade it for the world." Harris said.

Harris and his partners opened their shop in May 2011, and business is already booming with a typical shortboard going for $600, significantly more expensive than a normal shortboard made without eco-friendly material.

Harris handcrafts all the boards in his Hawthorne, Calif., production studio. The process usually begins with Harris and his partners or a client coming up with a design idea. After that, Harris crafts the basic board, adds natural resin and then bamboo in order to make the board more flexible, then he vacuum-bags it. Finally, it goes into the "hot box" and by 6 a.m. the next morning it's ready for the fins to be added.

Rock Climber

Steph Davis

Photo: Damon Johnston

Steph Davis's day job will likely make you feel like a wimp. The 38-year-old Moab, Utah, resident on a typical day will climb up a sheer rock face hundreds of feet high — without ropes — then casually jump from the top, coasting back down to earth using a small parachute. She also jumps out of planes. And she does this.

Davis was the first woman to free climb the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite and to summit Torre Egger in Patagonia. For Davis, rock climbing started as a hobby in college. Making it a job stemmed from her figuring out what she really loved rather than "getting bogged down in what job" she should be doing and how much money she should be making.

"It's about pursuing passion, living simply," Davis said. For her, climbing — and jumping and flying — helps her examine the larger questions in life and deal with fear, not by just trying to overcome it but by being aware of it and working "alongside it rather than being controlled by it."

About 80 percent of Davis's income comes from sponsorships. She's established relationships over the last 20 years of climbing with well-known outdoor brands like prAna, Clif Bar, Mammut and Backcountry.com. She's also a scholar with a master's degree in literature and is presently working on her second book, "Learning to Fly," slated for publication sometime next year by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.

Writing a basic extension for your web browser isn't as complicated as you might think.

Expand the capabilities of your browser with our in depth guide to create a Chrome browser extension and then follow the instructions in this step-by-step guide, and you would soon get your hand-coded add-on running in less than 15 minutes.

Google has talked to at least two private-equity firms for financing deal to buy Yahoo Inc.'s core business

Google is reportedly in a talk to acquire Yahoo, the internet pioneer through private equity firm.

Google has talked to at least two private-equity firms for financing deal to buy Yahoo Inc.'s core business, said an unnamed source, according to a report by the The Wall Street Journal.

The report has mentioned that the discussion is in a very primary stage and a formal proposal is yet to be decided. It is also not clearly said which private-equity firms Google is in a talk with.

It is predicted that this acquisition might gear up Yahoo to reach a better financial stage as revenue wise Yahoo is not facing a very good time. For the third quarter which ended on Sept. 30, 2011, the company reported to have a 5 percent decline in overall revenue year over year.

Earlier, Microsoft also wanted to buy Yahoo, but finally it could not. According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, it was good fortune that his company didn't buy Yahoo for a lofty price three years ago.

However, this time, Yahoo's valuation might go lower compared to Microsoft's bid.

Bracing up to launch a major space module tomorrow to experiment with first docking system of its space station to catch up with US and Russia, China today said it would launch its second manned space mission next year.

China is going to conduct another manned space mission by 2012, Ms Wu Ping, spokesperson for the China manned space program told reporters at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre located in Gobi desert. China plans to launch spaceships Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, which are expected to dock with China's first space lab module, Tiangong-1, (Heavenly Palace) launched last month. She said Shenzhou-8, the unmanned test module would be launched early morning tomorrow to dock with Tiangong-1. "At least one mission of the two (Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10) will be manned," Ms Wu said.

The crew members have already been selected for the possible space docking mission in 2012 and are being trained for manual docking skills, Ms Wu said.

Before the manned flight, China has to test the know how on space docking by launching the unmanned Shenzhou-8 tomorrow and connecting it with the target orbiter Tiangong-1. She said the maneuver to connect the two modules could be risky and fraught with dangers.

"It is fairly difficult and risky to link up two vehicles travelling at high speeds in orbit, with a margin of error of no more than 20 centimetres," Ms Wu said.

There were incidents of collisions between space vehicles in the early days of docking attempts, and recent docking missions involving the International Space Station did not always run smoothly, Ms Wu said.

Nearly 100 contingency plans have been prepared and exercised to address problems that may occur during the mission, Ms Wu said, adding that all people involved in the mission are confident about a successful docking.

"Although the Shenzhou-8 is unmanned, we equip the spacecraft with devices recording real images and mechanical parameters during its flight, both of which are vital to future manned missions," Ms Wu said.

Significantly the Chinese and German space scientists will conduct different experiments on Shenzhou-8. "Among the research programs, 10 will be dominated by China and six by Germany, and the two sides will jointly carry out one program... It is the first time for China's manned space program to carry out international cooperation in the field of space life science," Ms Wu said.